Menu

Tag Archives: Vegan

There’s a lovely plant nursery near veganbungalow, it’s really very hard not to buy too many flowering plants when you see them all lined up so beautiful and colourful!

But on a recent visit they had sorrel plants which just had to be bought. It’s actually years since I’ve had sorrel, but I love the lemony sharp flavour of the leaves so much that I’ve always meant to get a plant or two.

I wanted to make something that really celebrated the flavour of the leaves, but was struggling to come up with anything other than a potato based salad! Sorrel goes so beautifully with English summer flavours – peas, mint and nasturtium, and I really did want to make a dish that included them.

And then Alex hit on the idea of using the leaves as a wrap to make something somewhere between a Vietnamese crystal roll and dolmades. Inspired, I thought!

So I made them, and they’re really very good. I’m going to cosset my plants now and get some more nice big leaves so I can make them again! They’re a great way to use up leftover potato, and you could easily vary the herb and vegetable components, they’d be great with basil and roasted courgette mixed into the potato filling.

Sorrel summer rolls

serves 2 with salads and a nice dip

8 sorrel leaves preferably around 15 cm long but must be over 10 cm

100 g cooked new potatoes

20 g frozen peas, defrosted

1 tbsp shredded fresh mint leaves

a few chopped nasturtium leaves, optional but do add a nice peppery flavour

1 tsp good oil, I used cold pressed rapeseed

salt and pepper

Put the potatoes and peas in a bowl and roughly mash them. Not until smooth, but don’t leave any big lumps or they will tear the sorrel leaves.

Season liberally with salt and pepper, drizzle in the oil and add the herbs. Mix well.

Pour boiling water into a shallow bowl and holding it by the stem, dip a sorrel leaf in for a few seconds until it starts to soften.

Lay the leaf flat on a board and add a tbsp or so of potato mixture along the middle. Tuck in the end and then roll the leaf around the filling.

The leaves seem to naturally curl when they’re in the hot water, so I used that to decide which side to use for the filling. They didn’t all curl the same way!

When we were making the nasturtium and basil sauce the other week it occurred to both of us how much nasturtium leaves resemble a little lilypad! So the idea for this broth was born, really just as a way to display the nasturtiums prettily… but as new recipes do, it evolved! And became a beautiful light broth made with the pods of fresh peas and flavoured with miso and mirin. Peas and herbs are added raw, and nasturtium leaves and radish floated on top for the cutest garnish. It’s delicious as well as looking lovely!

The pods of the peas are so often overlooked, but they make a gorgeous quick stock. When I was a kid we used to eat them as we shelled the peas and I still prefer the flavour of them to the actual pea! Don’t just pop them straight in your mouth though, they have a tough inner layer (which protects the peas), but this is easily peeled off by snapping a pod half at one end and gently peeling the layer away. It doesn’t always come off in one go, but it’s incredibly satisfying when it does!

Fresh pea broth with miso and herbs

makes 1 serving

200 g fresh peas in pods

400 ml water

1 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sweet white miso

10 g pea shoots

2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, shredded

1 radish

a few nasturtium leaves

a small pinch of salt (you may not need this but I found the broth needed a tiny bit to bring out the pea flavour. It will probably depend on your miso)

Shell the peas, putting the pods in a saucepan and setting the peas aside for later.

Add the water and mirin to the saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

While the broth is cooking prepare the radish. Cut it in half lengthways and carefully make three v-shaped cuts the length of the radish, removing the little pieces that each v-shape releases. Next slice each half of the radish across into very thin slices.

In a large soup bowl layer the peas, miso, herbs and pea shoots. Strain the broth into the bowl and stir gently. Taste, and add salt if needed.

Float the nasturtium leaves and radish slices carefully on top of the broth.

But last weekend Alex and I went with the British bank holiday weekend tradition of barbecue, with the idea of making a gorgeous meal of smoky vegetables with pasta and nicely charred fruit for afters. However, the sauce we made to go with both was absolutely the star of the meal!

I’m growing nasturtiums this year, I love the flowers to look at but the fact that both flowers and leaves are edible (and delicious) makes it a properly multifunctional plant which appeals to me immensely.

The leaves are beautifully peppery, a little like rocket, and combined with basil and lemon make a lovely fresh sauce that goes equally well with sweet or savoury.

We dressed pasta with the sauce and then topped with barbecued mushrooms, green beans and asparagus for the savoury course. And then for afters we dipped lightly charred watermelon and nectarine in the peppery, herbal, lemony sauce. Both were delicious, and there’s something very pleasing about using the same sauce for the two courses!

basil and nasturtium sauce with barbecued watermelon and nectarine for dipping

Serves two for either the sweet or savoury version, double it to try both

30 g bunch of basil, leaves only

10 g nasturtium leaves (stalks are fine too)

2 tbsp good oil, we used cold pressed rapeseed

Juice and zest of 1 small lemon

a small pinch of salt

2 tbsp water

This sauce is so simple it really doesn’t need a method!

Simply whizz together all the ingredients in a mini processor or use the attachment from an immersion blender as we did. Done!

The black beans are flavoured with a Mexican slant, and the topping reflects that too with tomatoes, herbs, avocado, radish and sweetcorn. And when they’re combined for serving the gorgeous black of the soup looks amazing with the brightly coloured topping!

But just as good as the soup are the stuffed masa harina flatbreads, with their crisped outer and soft herby potato centre.

The masa harina is combined with tapioca flour to give a lovely springy dough, which is really easy to work with and has a lovely flavour. We’ll be making them again, trying out lots of different fillings!

250 g tomatoes, roughly chopped. We used a mixture of different coloured cherry tomatoes

juice of half a small lemon

15 g fresh coriander, chopped

15 g fresh parsley, chopped

a pinch of salt

2 avocados, diced

4 radishes, sliced

50 g sweetcorn. We used tinned

for the stuffed masa harina flatbreads

200 g masa harina

100 g tapioca flour

a large pinch of salt

380 ml hot water

6 tbsp nicely flavoured oil, 2 for the dough and 4 for cooking. We used cold pressed rapeseed oil

200 g potatoes, diced

1 tbsp unsweetened soy yoghurt

juice of half a small lemon, start with half of it and taste before adding the rest

10 g fresh coriander, chopped

10 g fresh parsley, chopped

salt and pepper

To make the soup, put all of the ingredients apart from the salt in a large ovenproof casserole dish. Stir, put the lid on and cook in the oven at 160 degrees c for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the beans are tender. Blend until smooth (we used an immersion blender), and add salt to taste. We did this the day before, which helps with timing if you have one oven as the flatbreads cook at a higher temperature.

Next make the dough. In a large bowl mix together the masa harina, tapioca flour and salt. Add the oil, reserving ½ a tsp. Pour in the water and mix to a soft dough. Tip it out onto a board and knead, just until it comes together smoothly. Form into a ball and pop it back in the bowl. Rub over the ½ tsp of oil (this will stop it drying out), and loosely cover. Rest for at least 30 minutes.

For the masa harina flatbread filling, cook the potatoes (we used the microwave), roughly mash with the salt and pepper and leave to cool. Fold through the yoghurt, lemon juice and herbs.

To make the flatbreads, first divide the dough into 4. Roll each piece out into a round about 2 mm thick, take a quarter of the potato filling and place it in the middle. Fold the dough around the potato and carefully roll it out again, flipping every 3 or 4 rolls until it’s about 20 cm in diameter. The dough likely won’t stick together, but this is fine. Repeat with the other three pieces of dough. Rub ½ tbsp of oil into each side of the flatbreads and transfer to baking sheets. We needed to use two. Bake at 200 degrees c for 30 minutes, turning half way through.

While the flatbreads are cooking make the avocado salsa topping. Combine the tomatoes, herbs, salt and lemon juice and mix well. You can either mix the avocado, radish and sweetcorn into the tomatoes at this point, or keep them separate for layering.

Warm the black bean soup through if needed and then either top the soup with the salsa in the pan as we did, or ladle it into individual bowls and then add the topping. Serve with the masa harina flatbreads, cut into quarters.

We’ve blogged this method of cooking tofu before, and it’s so ridiculously easy and makes such a great result that I hardly cook it any other way now!

There’s no need to press the tofu with this method, it’s simply sliced, and baked in a little oil in a hot oven for quite a while – about 45 minutes. The result is a crispy and chewy tofu which is wonderful in sandwiches.

And this past weekend I wanted a kebab! We’d picked up some B-Free pitta breads which happily are vegan and gluten free (but you could of course make our great recipe!).

The tofu is cooked in a marinade of fresh mint, cumin seeds and dried ramsons (or fresh garlic) and stuffed into a pitta with a creamy salad of cabbage and carrot, and some fresh tomatoes. And pickled chillies, yay!

The dressing for the salad is basically the same as the one for our creamy tahini roast cauliflower. It’s so good it’s become an absolute favourite! But a simple oil and vinegar dressing would be great too.

Slice the tofu into 0.5 cm slices. Gently toss it together with the oil, mint, dried ramson, cumin seeds and salt in a bowl. If you’re not ready to cook it straight away it’s fine left to marinate for a few hours.

Arrange the tofu in a roasting tray so it isn’t overlapping. Bake for 30 minutes, and then flip the tofu over. By this point it should have reduced quite a lot in size and be golden on the underside. Bake for a further 15 minutes until it’s crispy and chewy.

While the tofu is cooking make the salad.Mix together the soy yoghurt, tahini, salt and lime juice and toss with the shredded vegetables.

Serve the delicious tofu stuffed into pittas with the salad, tomatoes and pickled chillies.

This cauliflower salad has become a firm favourite as part of work lunches over the last few weeks. It’s great eaten straight away, but the creaminess really seems to intensify over a couple of days! I’ve given the recipe here to include baby carrots, as I had some pretty little orange and purple ones in, but it works just as well using only cauliflower.

To pair with the creamy salad, the second recipe is brightly flavoured, with olives, rocket and lemon enhancing the black beans. Herbs are welcome in this salad too, I’ve used mint but parsley, coriander or basil would be great too. Even tarragon thinking about it.

The bean salad keeps well in the fridge for 3 days or so, we ate the salads for lunch the day after making them, and then three days later and they were great both times.

In a large roasting tray toss the carrots with the oil and a bit of salt. Roast for 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower and mix, then roast for a further 25 minutes, turning once. There should be some lovely caramelised dark brown bits on the cauliflower and the carrots should be tender. Cool.

In a smallish bowl, add the hot water to the tahini and mix it carefully to combine. The water being hot helps the tahini to soften as it can be quite stiff. Beat in the yoghurt, salt and pepper and lemon juice.

So here’s second recipe using our delicious sausage mix! This time the sausage is rolled into little balls and baked, before being combined with a lovely warm salad of brown rice with apple, parsley, and cubes of roasted parsnip and potato.

The mixture of flavours here with sweet roasted parsnip, nutty rice and tart apple works beautifully with the sage and spice in the sausage. They feel like very English flavours, and are lovely and comforting!

The sausage balls bake for quite a long time, but it’s worth it as they form a good crust on the outside. They can be frozen after baking (and cooling), and reheat very well, either in the oven or microwave. It’s great to have a few on hand for quick meals!

First make the sausage balls. Dissolve the yeast extract in the hot water.

Next add the rusk, allspice, caraway, sage, salt and tapioca to a large bowl and mix together. Crumble in the tofu (no need to press it first), pour in the coconut oil, and then the water and yeast extract. Mix well and leave for 10 minutes to allow the rusk to soak up the water. I find it easiest to squodge it all together using my hands. You can use a food processor if you like.

Divide the mixture into 4 and then make 7 balls from each quarter, 28 in all.

Spray or drizzle the balls with a very little oil, and roast for 45 minutes. After they’ve been roasted the sausage balls can be cooled and frozen. They can then be warmed through in the oven for 10 minutes, or also in the microwave for a minute or two.

For this recipe, add the vegetables to the oven (same tray if it’s big enough) after the sausage balls have been in for 15 minutes.

Once the sausage balls are in the oven get the rice on to cook. Add the rice, apple and water to a rice cooker or saucepan and simmer for around half an hour (with a lid mostly on if using a saucepan), until the rice has absorbed the water and is tender, and the apple has softened into a sort of sauce.

Combine the rice with the parsley, then toss through the roasted veg, and top with the sausage balls.

As is often the case, my photography skills in no way match the deliciousness of the recipes… After making them three times, I have either forgotten to photograph them at all, or taken pretty odd photographs of these sausage rolls (I think maybe I was trying to be arty).

Don’t let the picture put you off though, this sausage roll recipe is ace! It’s definitely my favourite recipe out of everything that we made for a Christmas buffet, and Alex’s too. They went down immensely well with everyone!

The pastry isn’t exactly the cheapest, being made with rather a lot of ground almond, but it stays tender for a couple of days after it’s baked which can be a difficult thing to achieve with gluten free pastry!

The filling uses traditional sausage flavourings, along with rusk and tofu and is savoury and moreish. We get our gluten free rusk here, it’s great for sausage mixes and burgers too. You could probably use gluten free breadcrumbs instead of rusk, although we haven’t tried it. If you do choose to, be careful of the amount of water you add to the filling, you’ll probably need less than we’ve specified in the recipe.

We firmly believe that is important to make more of these sausage rolls than you think you’ll need, it’s almost impossible to stop eating them. But if you do end up with any leftovers, they reheat beautifully!

The sausage filling is great, we’ve got more recipes using it to come soon!

Before starting, freeze the block of vegetable fat for around 2 hours. It shouldn’t be completely frozen but this will make it much easier to grate.

Using a balloon whisk, mix together the rice flour, almonds, cornflour, tapioca starch, potato starch, xanthan gum and salt until well combined.

Grate the fat into the flour mixture, dipping the end of the fat into the flour after each grate. This helps the strands stay more separate and not just clump back together into a block.

Toss the strands in the flour mix and then lightly rub them in to get rid of any large lumps.

Add the soy milk, starting with 80 ml and mix together with flours and fat until it can be formed into a soft, slightly sticky ball (or lump!)

Wrap in cling film or a bag and chill for around an hour, this helps the pastry to firm up.

To make the filling, first dissolve the yeast extract in the hot water.

Next add the rusk, allspice, caraway, sage, salt and tapioca to a large bowl and mix together. Crumble in the tofu (no need to press it first), pour in the coconut oil, and then the water and yeast extract. Mix well and leave for 10 minutes to allow the rusk to soak up the water. I find it easiest to squodge it all together using my hands. You can use a food processor if you like.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.

Split the chilled pastry into 4 and roll the first piece into a rectangle around 10 cm x 40 cm and 2 mm thick. Trim the short edges and cut the rectangle into 6 pieces.

Split the filling into 4, and then each quarter into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage around 10 cm long and 1.5 cm across. Lay the sausage on the first piece of pastry and roll, it should fit nice and snugly. The pastry can be prone to cracking, don’t worry if this happens, just lightly pinch the edges back together. Transfer the sausage roll seam side down to a baking tray and pat down slightly. Then repeat with the rest of the pastry and filling to end up with 24 rolls. You can trim the ends at this point if you like, but we don’t bother.

Cut slashes through the pastry in the top of each roll, at an angle and about 1 cm apart.

Bake for 25 minutes, until just starting to turn golden.

The sausage rolls are gorgeous hot or cold, but if you’re making them in advance for a party it’s really nice to heat them through for a few minutes in the oven before serving. This also crisps up the pastry a little.

Rinse the beans and add them to a large saucepan along with the tahini, ginger, smoked paprika, tomatoes, mushrooms and water. Bring to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the beans are just tender. Mine took 30 minutes. Add the greens to the soup and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Season with tamari and black pepper to taste, and stir through the coriander just before serving.

We wanted to make a Christmas treat with similar flavours to stollen, lots of dried fruit, spices and yumminess. These really exceeded our expectations, they are moist, slightly chewy and full of Christmassy goodness!

The aquafaba and ground almond mix is a bit of a star, and can be made without any of the dried fruit and nuts to make a lovely soft cookie.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees c and line a tray with baking paper.
Using a hand or stand mixer beat the aqua faba until it forms soft peaks. As aquafaba varies in strength, this can take anywhere 4 to 8 minutes.
Beat in the sugar until mixture is glossy and forms stiff peaks. Next beat in the xanthan gum, salt and mixed spice.
Fold in the ground almonds, pistachios, cherries, mixed peel and raisins until well combined. The aquafaba meringue mixture will lose volume, this is correct.
Using two dessert spoons make quenelles of the mixture and drop them carefully onto the lined tray.
Bake for 20 minutes until attractively browned.
When cool, dust with the icing sugar.